Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) stalwart Mosebjane Malatsi died aged 70 in a car crash at Thaba Ntsho (Maleoskop) on Saturday, the PAC said in a statement on Tuesday.
During the democratic era he worked at the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served on the Johannesburg Metro council.
Malatsi was born in 1934 in the Tafelkop area of Limpopo province.
Malatsi was on his way from a community gathering related to a land claim in the Tafelkop area when the accident occurred.
The PAC stalwart became involved in politics in 1954 at the age of 20 when he and others resisted the introduction of Bantu education and the abolition of mathematics training for Africans.
Malatsi fled into exile in 1962 on the instructions of the PAC’s founder, Robert Sobukwe.
He left the country through Botswana. President Thabo Mbeki, then a student, was in the same group, having been told to go into exile by the African National Congress. Malatsi’s group was arrested in the then-Southern Rhodesia while on the way to Dar-es-salaam in Tanganyika (now Tanzania).
Imprisoned, and then escorted back to South Africa under guard, Malatsi nevertheless managed to escape from a train bringing him south as it passed through the British Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana).
Malatsi, in notes prepared by him and made available by the PAC, indicated that he eventually reached Tanzania and was from there sent to study in Europe, where he completed an M Phil in sociology, economics, psychology and political science at the University of Goettingen (1965-1970).
He afterwards continued his studies there and at St Anthony’s College at Oxford towards a PhD in sociology and economics, focusing on development sociology and economics.
During this time (1963-1972) he also served as the PAC’s representative in the then-West Germany.
From 1973 to 1981 he was the party’s man in The Gambia (West Africa), joining the Central Committee in 1976.
From 1987 to 1990 he represented the PAC in Zambia and also served on organs of the anti-apartheid Frontline States.
Malatsi served in a variety of development positions within the PAC after his return from exile in July 1991 and was also on the national executive committee of the PAC.
”His contributions and commitment in pursuance of Pan Africanism will continue to live and be carried by generations,” the PAC said. – Sapa